RFE&M Attorney Quoted on Football Association Premier League Ltd. and Bourne Co. v. YouTube, Inc., YouTube LLC and Google, Inc. Case

May 5, 2007 – The San Francisco Chronicle

Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck attorney Brian Banner was quoted by The San Francisco Chronicle on Football Association Premier League Ltd. and Bourne Co. v. YouTube, Inc., YouTube LLC and Google, Inc. case, a class action, copyright infringement lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York.

The Premier League, which owns the rights to British soccer games, and Bourne, an independent music publisher, are seeking additional copyright holders to join their lawsuit. YouTube has entered revenue-sharing agreements with some copyright holders, including CBS, but not with others, such as Viacom, which was the first company to file a copyright infringement complaint against YouTube several months ago. Both lawsuits claim that YouTube and Google are taking advantage of the unauthorized content on its website and are not doing enough to stop its users from posting copyrighted videos. Google claims that it is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which shields sites such as YouTube from responsibility for the posting of copyrighted content, but requires that it be removed once notification is provided. Media companies are frustrated by the law’s requirement that they provide notice after every appearance, especially because videos often reappear after being removed.

• "I think it was inevitable,” said Brian Banner, counsel at Rothwell Figg Ernst & Manbeck. “A lot of people were looking for ways to stop YouTube from doing what it is doing, but just couldn’t afford to do it yet.” Now, with the class-action lawsuits, they can, Banner added.

For more information, please contact Brian Banner at 202-783-6040 or bbanner@rfem.com.

Link to full article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/05/BUGU0PLI6J1.DTL&feed=
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